PHOENIX: A second Cuba player has defected during the CONCACAF Gold Cup leaving the squad down to 15 for Sunday's match against Trinidad and Tobago, assistant coach Walter Benitez said.

Midfielder Arael Arguellez quit Cuba's hotel following in the footsteps of striker Kailen Garcia, who deserted the team before last Thursday's Group C debut against Mexico in Chicago.

Garcia has turned up in Miami saying he wants "to live the American dream", Benitez told reporters on Saturday.

"(Arguellez left) after the match against Mexico. We had got to the hotel, we had dinner and he left," Benitez said.

Benitez is temporarily in charge of the team, crushed 6-0 by Mexico, because head coach Raul Gonzalez and six players have not yet managed to obtain visas to enter the United States.

He said they hoped Gonzalez and the players would arrive on Sunday ahead of Cuba's second match at Phoenix University's stadium against the Trinidadians, who won their opening match 3-1 against Guatemala. (Additional reporting by Carlos Calvo in Mexico City; Writing by Rex Gowar; editing by Sudipto Ganguly)